Barrel + Brine

I feel like anyone truly from NYC (I lived there until I was 17) would understand the difference between a fermented pickle and one that is made with vinegar. Barrel + Brine offers both. They’re NY deli dills are good, and flavorful as well as their bread and butters. I had the chance to have one of their fermented sours at the farmers market and it was delicious. Reminded me of the pickle guys in NYC, but with more garlic.

I love fermented food, I’m Russian and my people ferment the shit out of everything — herring, cabbage, tomatoes, mushrooms. I’m also from Brooklyn so I know for a fact what NY Deli Pickles are supposed to taste like, Barrel and Brine’s version doesn’t come close to anything resembling dill pickles. The pickles were not salty at all and there was no taste of garlic or dill weed — it seems like they only added the dill leaves and not the tops and seeds like you’re supposed to. It is a stretch to call these pickles at all, they’re like a quarter sour at best. Cabbage was also meh.

While chocolate is my favorite fermented food, all of them are worth a try. Why? Because the more we learn about the gut microbiome, the more we understand how eating fermented foods is helpful both physically and psychologically.
This new business, in a very pretty area off Johnson Park, is just the ticket to get you started on your quest to find the fermented foods you like best. (Parking was easy-​peasy.)
They have a wide variety of pickles, Kimchi, and sauerkraut. By the time I got there today they were sold out of a number of things, but I bought a jar of Kimchi, $ 7 (or three for $ 6 each). It’s pungent, complex, crunchy, and spicy, but not wildly spicy.
I am looking forward to trying the bread and butter pickles, as well as some of their more unusual offerings.

I learned this place was coming when I went to a benefit earlier this year and they had a table. They served some fantastic pickled things there. Yum.
Could not wait for them to open. But I had to. For a while. And the date seemed to keep getting pushed back. But, the wait was worth it. The place is so cute. They have done a great job in making a welcoming place where you can sit for a moment. And perhaps eat one of your pickles.
They don’t have a lot of inventory yet, but it’s coming. Soon I hope. Right now pickles, in a few flavors, are jarred and available for sale.
Can’t wait to try more!
The owner came from Elm Street Bakery.
Parking is street.
2036